MARK CHATTERLEY

MARK CHATTERLEY Biography

Mark Chatterley creates larger-than-life ceramic figures with lava-like glazes. Seeming to have emerged from the earth's crust, the creations of a fire god millions of years ago, his sculpture possesses a primordial presence that transcends time and geography. One might expect to find a silent grouping of his work on a South Pacific island, in an African savanna, or perhaps atop an Irish knoll. The figures are not "pretty," and they sometimes have an edge of intensity, not unlike Magdalena Abakanowicz' works. Yet, their power is expressed through an astonishing, primitive grace. After building a kiln to accommodate his seven-foot tall, one-piece, free-standing figures, he set himself free to explore "the archetypal images that go beyond culture and time that Jung wrote about."

Chatterley has emerged as one of the strongest ceramic sculptors of our time. He has contributed to the force taking ceramics from the level of craft to that of high art. In recent years, he has cast several of his large works in bronze.